U.S. military court appoints panel to hear Omar Khadr's war-crimes appeal

A U.S.military court has appointed three judgesto hear Omar Khadr appeal his war-crimes convictions, signalling apossible end to a years-long delay in the Canadian's quest to clearhis name.

The panel appointment comes just days after a civilian courtordered the U.S. government to respond to Khadr's latest plea tohave his appeal heard.

Sam Morison, Khadr'sU.S.lawyer, said the Department ofDefence has opposed having Khadr's case decided because it considershim a fugitive.

"It's just irrational. How can Khadr be a fugitive? Theytransferred him to Canada," Morison saidWednesday from Virginia. "They know that their case is vulnerable [and] they'retrying any way they can to avoid having to confront the merits ofhis appeal."

Since the United Statesreturned him to Canada in September 2012, theToronto-born Khadr has been trying to clear his name. He filed anappeal of his convictions in November 2013.

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American soldiers had captured Khadr as a badly wounded15-year-old following a firefight in Afghanistan in July 2002 in which a U.S. special forces soldier was killed. He was moved to thenotorious U.S. military facility at Guantanamo Bay within months.

In October 2010, Khadr pleaded guilty to five purported warcrimes before a widely maligned U.S. military commission and wassentenced to eight more years in prison. He later said he pleaded guilty as his only way out of Guantanamo Bay.

Khadr's appeal argument with some support from U.S. courts is that the commission convicted him of offences that weren't crimes atthe time he allegedly committed them. However, the U.S. Court ofMilitary Commission Review that sits as a first appeal forum forcommission verdicts has steadfastly refused to hear his case.

That precludes Khadr, who turned 33 last week, from taking hisfight to a civilian appellate court where normal rules of evidenceapply.

Last month, Khadr petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for theDistrict of Columbia Circuit to force the military review courtknown as CMCR to hear his appeal.

"The CMCR has obdurately failed to exercise its affirmativestatutory obligation to review the validity of his conviction," Morison states in the petition. "After nearly six years, the CMCR'scontinued foot-dragging amounts to little more than a pocket veto ofKhadr's right to direct review, and this court's appellatejurisdiction."

On Friday, the D.C. Circuit Court gave the U.S. government 30days to respond. However, the Court of Military Commission Reviewissued a terse order on Tuesday appointing William Pollard aspresiding judge to hear the case along with Chief Judge PauletteBurton and Judge Jan Aldykiewicz.

A political flashpoint

The review court did not respond to a request for comment, and itremained unclear when Khadr might finally get a hearing.

Khadr became a political flashpoint in July 2017, when theCanadian government paid him $10.5 million for violating his rights.

The Supreme Court of Canada had previously ruled the government hadfailed him during his detention in Guantanamo Bay.

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However, he remains a convicted war criminal. His convictionlooms large in a civil suit by the widow of the American specialforces soldier Khadr is alleged to have killed in Afghanistan and aformer soldier blinded in that battle.

A court in Utah awarded them$134 million US based on Khadr's military commission confession andconviction. Their attempt to enforce the award in Canada isscheduled to continue in November.

Khadr has married and lives in Edmonton without restrictions. AnAlberta court had ordered him released on bail in April 2015 pendingdisposition of his appeal in the U.S. but earlier this year, thecourt ruled he had served his sentence and released himunconditionally.